North Korea remains the world’s most secretive country. How ordinary people live there remains largely a mystery.

International journalists rarely get access to the country. However, last week 70 journalists from around the world were allowed into North Korea. The historic three day tour to Mount Kumgang and Gaeseong city was organized by the Korean Journalists’ Federation and the South Korean Government.

Asia Calling’s Rebecca Henschke was one of the lucky journalists and now takes us on a journey across the hostile border zone.

The long list of don’ts in North Korea….

“Radio are not allowed, do you have any voice recorders? They are not allowed, mobile phones, the battery and the charges are not allowed. Flags are not allowed. The national flags of America, South Korea or Japan are not allowed. Except for those things you are allowed to bring anything,”

Our highly anxious tour guide moves down the bus collecting banned items: mobile phones, newspapers, MP3 players, camera zooms, magazines and calendars.

We are also told not to utter the name, Kim Jong-Il, or mention anything about the division of the peninsular.

We drive past the last South Korean army post and just 300 meters later we see our first soldier from the North. He’s dressed in a soviet style uniform with a pin of the great leader, Kim Jong-Il.

We are now in the demilitarization zone.Next to me is Dr Rüdiger Claus, Director of the International Institute of Journalism in Berlin. He has been coming regularly to Pyonggang since 1982.

“Everything is a military secret in North Korea because they feel extremely threatened by the American forces in South Korea. They always argue that the enemy is not South Korea but America. The enemy America is an obsession for North Korea, they feel threatened by anything that looks like being from that hemisphere. It’s taught in school that the war is not with the South but with America,”

We speed passed untouched nature.The DMZ is a sanctuary for animals and plants. It’s filled with landmines; no human has touched this area for the last 50 years.

The air is cool and fresh. I stare off into the space. The only human form is a single North Korean soldier standing on alert. I stare for too long. Suddenly a soldier from behind me whistles and glares angrily at me. Look at the ground, the driver urges me.

“It’s a country where the army plays a very important role. The army is the guarantee for their national sovereignty and they have had for the past ten years the so-called ‘army first’ policy. So if there are shortages of anything the army gets it first. I am always told it’s accepted by the people because they love the army more than anything, they are very proud of their sovereignty,”

But the harsh limits imposed on us are difficult for a group of journalists to accept. At the North Korean check point, all our cameras, recording equipment, bags are scrutinized. Laptops and long range zooms are strictly banned.

An Italian journalist’s frustration boils over. He has been to North Korea before and was allowed to film, he tells the authorities.

But this is not so much a journalist reporting trip but a political symbol. It’s taken months for the South to get clearance for this.

They are desperately hoping it will be a sign of warming ties between the two sides, one small step on the way to reunification.

“It’s the first time that so many journalists are allowed to enter North Korea. We are making history with this visit. Something is happening with our visit. We are just knocking on the door, in the next five and ten years more and more journalists will enter North Korea and make this peninsular more peaceful,”

We finally pass the border and get our first glimpse of some North Korean villagers.

“On your right hand side, the people walking on the streets they are North Korean people. Can you see the building with little windows that is middle school, the area behind is the Town Hall,”

The roads are empty. I can’t see one single car or truck. Everyone is riding bicycles in lines. We pass a collective farm where a horse drawn cart is plowing a field.

It’s a dramatic contrast to the ultra-modern South. All the houses in the villages are exactly the same. White-washed concrete buildings, with tiled roofs.

Our tour guide tells us the positives; everyone is given a house here and food everyday. Schools and Universities, as well as healthcare, are free here for all, we are told.

However, there is no chance of talking to the villagers.

We arrive at our destination, the tourist site of Mount Kumgang. I attempt to film the nearby village, zooming desperately trying to see what life is like. A state official rushes over, telling me, ‘NO filming of the villages’.

She leads me back to the place I am meant to be, the entertainment area of Mount Kumgang.

This tourist complex is in stark contrast to everything else around it. There is an eight-storey hotel, spa complex and performance hall. It’s a joint program between the South and North that opened in 1996.

Inside the hall we join South Koreans, who have come here as tourists to get a glimpse of the North.

What we are all being allowed to see is a Pyongyang acrobatic show. It’s an impressive soviet style performance: colorful costumes; superb feats of strength and flexibility.

The North is renowned for these performances. I am told that all students here attend Arts School for free where they learn music, dance and acrobatics.

Two comedians come on stage and grab a member of the audience; a South Korean journalist Sung-Hee Han from the divided province.
He’s made to catch balls with a basket on his head; he repeatedly misses. The audience bursts into laugher.

Sung-Hee then embraces the North Korean clowns on stage. It’s a very rare moment of intimacy.

After the performance, he’s visibly moved.

“They look like my young sister or brother really. Before we are unified, I so want to meet them and want to talk with them again. I feel very happy, really very happy but sad also. I feel both sad and happy at the same time,”

It’s a special moment for the South Korean tour guides who are also here for the first time.

“The political situation between the South and North is absolutely changed. When I began this job around 15 years ago we never imagined that people could move between the South and North like this, even if it’s a tourist spot like this, the important thing to remember is that we are one Korea,”

Dr Claus says he has witnessed changes in the capital, Pyongyang, in recent years. He is freer to move around alone and last year he saw a free market in full swing in the capital.

After this, he’s going to teach North Korean journalists digital photography for three weeks.

“To make them fit for the near future, I am sure even if it is a poor country they will have to change to digital photography. It was a wish of the North Korean authorities and we are happy to provide the training for them,”

He says, though, that journalists can only take photos that are set-up and approved by the State. There is no internet access in North Korea and no mobile phone signal.

Change is very slow. North Korean journalists were meant to travel with us on this trip. They cancelled at the last minute, saying they were too busy covering the negotiations with the United States.